The Abraham Lincoln Institute and Ford’s Theatre Society present a free symposium on Saturday, March 17, 2018, from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. focused on the life, career and legacy of President Abraham Lincoln. Check in will begin at 8:30 a.m. with Opening Remarks at 9:00 a.m.

Length: 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. Advance registration for tickets is available and encouraged beginning January 10, 2018, at 10 a.m. and ends March 5, 2018. Day-of tickets will be available first-come, first-served.

Join us for an unusual and lively performance featuring Abraham Lincoln (portrayed by George Buss) and political opponent Stephen A. Douglas (portrayed by Tim Connors) as they look back to their famous debates over slavery and equality in the 1858 U.S. Senate campaign in Illinois. Following the first debate, we will present the “Unknown Lincoln-Douglass,” an “imagining” of a debate between Lincoln (as portrayed by Buss) and Frederick Douglass (portrayed by Phil Darius Wallace). This is the Lincoln-Douglass debate that never happened—using words from their actual correspondence and commentary. Historian Harold Holzer will moderate and bring Lincoln and Douglass face-to-face for an unprecedented confrontation.

Presented in partnership with the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia with support from the Illinois State Society, the Lincoln Forum, the Abraham Lincoln Association of Springfield IL, and the Pascal Collection, in commemoration of the bicentennials of Illinois statehood and the birth of Frederick Douglass.​